January 2013

Monday, January 07, 2013

I do it every year. Sometimes I mention them here on the blog. Like this.

And sometimes they are too personal.

But I always keep them. Every year.

I love making resolutions. I see the beginning of each year as a fresh start. A time to take inventory of my life, and decide if I'm really on my way to becoming the person I want to be.

I have never made a weight-loss resolution, or one with a definitive ending (like I'll save $5000 or something like that.) I don't want to look back at the end of the year and realize I gave up, or just missed the mark. So my resolutions are always about a direction of improvement, not an end goal.

Here they are for this year:

I'll explain a little.

1. Half-way through last year we had a college student over at our house, and he looked around and asked Donnie and me, "Do you think your house represents who you are?" To my disappointment, my answer was no. We have lived here for three years, and we've done a few things to improve the place, but there are still 7 rooms (out of 10) that are the same dingy brown as the day we moved in. This year that's going to change. I plan to move from room to room, starting with the entryway, with the goal of making our home pretty, comfortable, welcoming, and functional. (That last one is a constant concern of mine.) Some rooms will take very little work--maybe just a coat of paint or something new on the wall.

There's just one tiny hiccup in this plan. Cash. I'm going to have to be extra clever, because this resolution coincides with an extremely tight budget! (You know...new babies are small, but they require big budget cuts!) So I have decided to fund the entire home-making project with money that I'm able to bring in outside of our family income. My birthday is coming up, too. I'm asking for gift cards from Home Depot, Home Goods, etc. I am so excited to see where this resolution get us by the end of 2013!!

2. I have mentioned before that while I'm creative in many areas, cooking is just not one of them. This year, I'm working on that. If you have an excellent, simple, healthy(ish), and yummy recipe you'd like to see me try, please send it to me! I have already found a few recipes that are perfect for me, and I'm going to share them with you as I go along. I'd really like to start filling a notebook with family-approved options, and maybe have a few of them memorized by the end of the year.

3. This has continued to be important to me. At the same time, it is VERY difficult for me. Slow down, keep calm, don't try to do too much, don't try to save the whole world. Just do small somethings that will make life better for my family, my neighbors, and myself. The Lord continues to teach me what doing something small even means, and if I listen to Him, surely I'll be able to keep this resolution, one small something at a time.

So, there they are! Do you make annual resolutions? Do you keep them? Do you hate the idea and want to tell me why? I'd love to know! Leave me your opinions and resolutions in the comments!

I waited three days after the big sonogram to tell the kids they were having a brother.

It had to be perfect. Like pinterest perfect.

I bought the balloons.

I decorated the box.

The box was too small, so I opened the bottom, taped it up, and called the kids outside.

As I set the box on the ground, one of the balloons popped on the dry winter grass.

We got the kids ready, and told them to open the box.

The balloons floated out.

The kids were like, Huh?

We forgot to tell them what the color of the balloons meant! They had no idea what they were looking at! Haha. Donnie laughed at me. I laughed at myself. We stuck the balloons back into the box, replayed everything, and snapped some decent pictures.

Makes me wonder what's really going on behind the scenes in all those perfect pinterest pics, how bout you?

Hello! I'm so glad you found me! I believe in living life with purpose and creativity, and I want to inspire you to do the same with project tutorials, craft ideas, and funny stories of real family life. Follow me as I strive to find the joy in every day!